NANRITAM , a not for profit welfare organization, upon undertaking the integrated rural development project in the extreme remote, underdeveloped and tribal villages of Purulia , West Bengal, realized that eye problems especially cataract induced blindness is a major health issue among the concerned population. Lack of awareness (that the eye problem is treatable) coupled with absence of proper medical services was pushing significant proportion of the concerned population into the realm of darkness. Handicapped by loss of sight, the affected people ceased to remain a productive member of the society and hence became a burden for their families and society at large. 

About LEF ( Lokeswarananda Eye Foundation): 

- A 360 degree, state of the art, world class eye hospital in an obscure, remote and god-forsaken corner of Purulia , West Bengal, inhabited mostly by the poorest of the poor ! 

- May sound like an utopia, but such an utopia has seen the light of the day and has become a reality, in this remote part of the world. 

- The first seed was planted In 2002, with the formation of Nanritam, a social welfare organisation , by a few devoted followers of Swami Lokeswarananda, dedicated to serve the poorest of the poor. 

- Although the original objective of Nanritam was to focus on education, soon it was realised health care was the people's prior and urgent requirement. Education was still a low priority for the marginalised and impoverished people of the region . Health was not. 

- So team Nanritam decided to begin their social service initiatives through health care services. 

- In the earlier medical outreach camps it was also found that eye ailments , visual impairments and possible blindness were wide spread in the region.Members of the leading team were all extremely distressed to experience such a precarious state of things in people's lives. 

- Something they thought could be addressed and corrected with the intervention of modern eye care treatment and medicine. Since then LEF and its journey began under the wings of Nanritam. 

- What we see today, in 2022, is the result of years of dedication, toil, handiwork and passionate pursuits. 

- Today, the 100-bedded Lokeswarananda Eye Foundation, a sophisticated eye hospital manned by top eye specialists and surgeons, is fully equipped with postmodern modular OT s and other sophisticated gadgets, tailor made for modern cataract & retinal surgery, and latest glaucoma treatments. 

- Recognised in 2015 by West Bengal government, as the referral hospital for three districts of Purulia, Bankura and West Midnapore, the hospital provides world class eye care services free to the poorest of the poor, and at a highly affordable rate to the rest . 

- The eye foundation is located at Barandanga, a small and remote hamlet in Para block , Purulia, bordering the state of Jharkhand. A region, where even after 75 years of independence the tangible derivatives of progress and development have hardly reached the people, who still suffer from acute poverty, hunger, malnutrition and illiteracy. 

- It is largely a tribal land comprising mainly the Santhals, Shabars, and Murmus, who migrated here thousands of years ago from the heart of Africa, treading thousands of miles, over centuries . 

- This is where Lokeswarananda Eye Foundation has set its footprint to serve those who need it the most.